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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” Xabi Alonso declared, maybe affirming a tad forcefully. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he remarked on the morning before the English champions step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for another edition of a frequent heavyweight clash. “I anticipate the challenge ahead, starting tomorrow—an opening to redirect the disappointment. Our minds are fixed solely on City. Football, for better or worse, is a game of swift changes.” Failure and things could alter for good, and definitively: this opportunity is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, emergency discussions continued, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their analyses were different and while severe measures are being postponed, tolerance has limits, the names of possible successors already out. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso commented

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” the French midfielder stated. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Quick Decline After Early Promise

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell at a club where a crisis is always just two losses around the corner, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Hailed as a structured planner, the ideal solution after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was counter-cultural at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a letter a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. Institutionally, rather than supporting the trainer, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Strains Emerging

Internally, the assessment was clear: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Asked here if he would make the same call, Alonso answered: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Strains had been brought to the surface, a disconnect between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A familiar lament began to surface about all the instructions, the film sessions, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to repair cracks or at least mask the problems, to restore tranquility. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been reached; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Reconciliation was displayed when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. A brief break followed. Four days later, though, Celta overcame them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and unfairness, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, poor commitment, a lack of organization.

The Manager: The Most Obvious Solution

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, dominated the buildup to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to redirect attention to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The briefest response he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso continued. “The culture of Real Madrid is well-known to us; it's the reason for its status as the world's premier club. Adaptation, continuous learning, and player communication are key. There will be highs and lows. Meeting challenges with drive and a positive mindset is the only route to improvement.”

It was when he was asked if he felt by himself that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it from above, he replied: “Dialogue with the leadership is ongoing, founded on trust, togetherness, and mutual respect. We are all united in this endeavor. We are psychologically prepared for any challenge: the squad is unified, certain of victory tomorrow, without a shadow of doubt. This is the Champions League. We are playing at the Bernabéu. The environment will be electric. That generates a unique dynamism, even among the players.”